Week Seven is well behind us, and though most people are already looking ahead to the Thursday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants, there are some important topics we need to discuss before we can move on to Week Eight. After looking at all the action from last week, we have identified two big winners, two big losers, and two pressing questions for some of the most prominent teams and personalities in the NFL.
Winners
The Detroit Lions
Once again, the Detroit Lions flexed their muscles in a primetime game and proved they are the best team in the NFL by dominating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football by a score of 24-9. Against an MVP-caliber quarterback and with a secondary that was missing starters across the board, the Lions held Bucs QB Baker Mayfield to his lowest passer rating of the 2025-26 season (66.1). At the same time, Detroit's offense ran for 164 yards against a defense that was only allowing opponents to average about 88.2 rushing yards per game. More importantly, the Lions can continue to keep pace with the Packers thanks to that win and move one step closer to possibly earning the number-one seed in the NFC Playoff Picture.
The Green Bay Packers
The only team that arguably benefited more from the Lions' win was their division rival, the Green Bay Packers. Now that the Buccaneers have fallen to 5-2, the Packers stand alone at the top of the National Football Conference as the only one-loss team. Though they don't have as many victories as other NFC contenders, they have the highest winning percentage in the conference, which means that they would have a bye during the Wild Card Round of the 2026 NFL Playoffs if the regular season ended today. Through the first eight weeks of the campaign, the Green Bay Packers sit atop the NFC, so they're clearly one of the biggest winners to come out of Week Seven.
Losers
Brian Daboll
There are a lot of people who are responsible for the Giants' epic fourth-quarter collapse, but when an entire team fails, the blame must be directed at the head coach. Coming into this season, there were already major concerns about Brian Daboll being the head coach of the New York Giants. In fact, some members of the New York media wanted Daboll fired at the end of last year, but Big Blue gave Daboll one more chance to prove himself. Things have obviously taken a step in the right direction thanks to the play of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, but the Giants' 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday reaffirmed the notion that Brian Daboll is not fit to be the long-term head coach of this franchise. If New York's owners were on the fence about Daboll before, Week Seven let them know which direction they should go in with their head coaching spot when the regular season ends.
The Tennessee Titans
Usually, when teams fire their head coach mid-season, it reenergizes the roster and provides a spark to the players. That was clearly not the case for the Titans, who dropped to 1-6 on the campaign following a 31-13 loss to the New England Patriots. What makes that defeat even worse is that it came at the hands of Mike Vrabel, the guy who was once the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, not that long ago. The Titans basically broke up with their ex-girlfriend, who moved on to find a better relationship, while the Titans are still trying to figure out what they're doing with their love life. The worst part for Tennessee is that it was leading that game in the second quarter, but it allowed the Pats to score 21 unanswered points. That has to sting if you're a Titans fan.
Questions
What do the Cardinals do at the quarterback spot?
Ever since the Arizona Cardinals selected Kyler Murray with the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, there hasn't really been a question as to who the starting quarterback will be out in the desert. That all changed two weeks ago, when backup Jacoby Brissett filled in for an injured Murray and stuffed the stat sheet with back-to-back impressive performances. Though the sample size is small, Brissett has played better than Murray. As of this writing, Brissett has a better passer rating and QBR this season than the former Heisman Trophy winner. Plus, the offense has averaged more points per game with Brissett under center. With Murray still dealing with an injury, it's unclear who Arizona should start this weekend and for the rest of the year, for that matter.
Are the Houston Texans bad?
Just when we thought we were finally getting a read on the Houston Texans, they go out and lay an absolute egg on Monday Night Football against one of the better teams in the National Football League. Their defense let up a season-high 27 points and couldn't stop Seahawks wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who torched Houston's secondary for 123 receiving yards and a touchdown. On the other side, the offense struggled again, as quarterback C.J. Stroud was held to a season-low in terms of passer rating and average yards per pass attempt. Instead of earning a win over a good team, Houston is 2-4, with their lone victories coming over the lowly Tennessee Titans and the Baltimore Ravens, who didn't have two-time MVP Lamar Jackson starting when they played the Texans. It might be time to face the facts and admit that the 2025-26 Houston Texans are bad. At the very least, we can all agree that they're not good. After all, good teams don't look hapless against squads with winning records. They show some fight in the face of adversity, which is something the Texans failed to do on Monday.
